Sweater Refashion Extravaganza #4

Ok, as promised, the last re-fashion was a bit more complicated, now comes the simplest one I have ever made. It almost feels silly....

Do you like this cozy wool thing? Well, it was a cozy wool thing before, I've owned it for years, and I wore it a few times every winter. It just was way too wide in the bodice. This is part of what made it cozy, but it was really difficult to put on coats over it, because there was way too much material to be stuffed into it.... So I finally took my courage and cut it up. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture before, so this one will have to do:

It was just a normal sweater, wiiiiiiide in the torso, and I couldn't just have cut off and taken in the sides, because the sleeves would have ended up being too short.

So I cut off the sides as you see in the above picture, and cut open the sleeves. And this is what you get:

What happens now? You turn it 90 degrees and sew the bodice pieces into sleeves, while the sleeves become the bodice. Just like in my other refashion project HERE.

Wool sweaters can easily be sewn by machine! I like to sew bias tape around the seam allowances. In this case, I sewed it to the rough edges first, and then sewed those together. I did this because the sleeves were not quite wide enough to make up the bodice around my hip, so I left slits open at the hem, which were now nice and tidy.

I cut off the rib knit hem from the former sleeves (now bodice) and added them on the sleeves, to make them longer. And that was it!
I like it a lot - I was worried, because I liked it before, but I actually like it just as much if not more now, and I can wear it under my coats without looking like a stuffed turkey ;-)

IMPORTANT NOTES:

• This neat little trick only works if the neck is identical (or almost identical as in my case) on front and back!
• The sleeves need to be fairly wide to begin with, or you will have to use insets for the sides...
• The proportions of the "before-sweater" are important - the wide torso in my case made sure the seam on the finished project was in a good place - under the bust instead of right over it...

Here is a closer shot at the slits, they look like they were meant to be, right?

So after this super simple 90 degree trick, I have another re-fashion ready for you. I will post it on Thursday.
It is not a sweater re-fashion... this is a sneak peak of the before...:

I wonder what you would have made from it?
Have fun re-fashioning and wearing your unique clothes - it beats shopping by far!

Best,
Katja